Welcome to this week’s edition of Submission Sundays. Every week I bring you a unique call for submissions to help you find a home for your stories or inspire a new one. Each call will contain a speculative element and will offer payment upon acceptance.
Spark: Lab Coats and Love Letters
Eligibility: Original, paranormal romance flash fiction (or just regular romance) from 300-1000 words, though stories less than 700 words are preferred. Stories must follow the theme of ‘lab coats and love letters.’ I encourage writers to click through to their website as there are other themes and submission dates available.
Caveat: Authors are required to submit a professional headshot upon acceptance, to be published with the story. Selfies are not allowed. Do you have one? Can you get one? Is this feasible for you considering the small payment offered?
Payment: $0.02 per word, American, plus a print copy of the magazine.
Submit by: August 24th, 2018
Click here to go to the original call for details.
Writerly links worth reading this week:
This first link is a bit of a rabbit-hole, but as most markets are gearing up for their Halloween issues this should help you get into a macabre mood. It is an in-depth read about coffin flies sure to inspire a macabre tale or two.
The Write Practice published this piece on how to sell your books locally. The last section, on how to sell books in person, was particularly enlightening.
Whether you call them trigger warnings, content warnings, or content notices, Mythcreants has posted a thoughtful argument to their value. I’m still unpacking how I feel about the idea of rating books as we do movies.
Jennifer Shelby 
My gut reaction is no, do not start rating books like they’re movies. Production companies force directors to change their movies in order to get the rating they want. I’d hate to see publishers do that to authors.
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That was my initial reaction too. Sometimes naughty books teach youth things their parents and educators aren’t comfortable with. Especially in the realm of non-cishet. The more I’ve given it thought, the more “ratings” feels like book-banning for a limited demographic. If young are reading, don’t hinder them, foster it.
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I agree. I’m not a parent, but if I were I think I’d be happy just to have my kids reading something, even if the subject matter might be questionable. That said, I’d also probably want to know what my kids are reading, and if there is disturbing or controversial content, maybe I’d want to talk with my kids about that.
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